Kerala politician PC George held in sexual assault case

The arrest, which comes two months after George was held and released on bail for a purported hate speech, came while he was being questioned by police in another case, lodged by former minister K T Jaleel.

Thiruvanathapuram: Senior politician and seven-time former legislator, P C George, was arrested on Saturday, purportedly on the basis of a complaint of sexual assault filed by a woman, who is also an accused in the 2013 solar panel scandal in the state.

Saturday’s arrest, which comes two months after George, 70, was held and released on bail for a purported hate speech, came while he was being questioned by police in another case, lodged by former minister K T Jaleel.

Alleging that his arrest is part of a conspiracy by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, George told the media: “He (Vijayan) has a grudge because I did not give any statement against former CM Oommen Chandy in the solar scandal. He (Vijayan) is not going to escape.”

While the woman had earlier made allegations of sexual harassment against several politicians in the state, which are under investigation, George’s name did not figure in those complaints.

Last month, former state minister Jaleel had alleged that George had conspired with gold smuggling scandal accused Swapna Suresh in her latest allegations against Vijayan, the LDF government in the state, and the complainant (Jaleel) himself.

On Saturday, Crime Branch police had summoned George for questioning in their probe into the case registered on the basis of Jaleel’s complaint, when police informed the former legislator about the alleged sexual harassment complaint.

The woman had registered her complaint against George around noon, when police were questioning him.

Thiruvananthapuram city police subsequently arrested George under IPC Sections 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) and 354-A (offence of sexual harassment).

According to the FIR lodged on the basis of the woman’s complaint, George had summoned her to the government guest house in Thiruvananthapuram on February 10 under the pretext of discussing the gold smuggling scandal and allegedly outraged her modesty.